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What do you use for backing up your WP blog?

by Maria Gudelis
18 replies
Yichs...imagine the scenario - you're best $$ selling membership site - someone either 'hacks' in or a weird tech glitch and POOF - 1/2 of your content and carefully laid out curriculum is GONE (and hours and hours of $$ spent creating that)...

Well - it happened to me recently...and wanted to ask you, fellow warrior what do you use...

Do you have a "Disaster Recover" plan for you or 'OMG' - your clients stuff?

I had to restore my domain/database to a back up point in the past to get my stuff back up...so obviously couldn't 'sell' that product during! oh the pain!

Now I:

1. ONce a week a download of my aweber lists to my external hard drive (a mybookworld)

2. Schedule once a week and send it to a gmail acct the wp backup - I use the WP back up plug in WordPress Database Backup (WordPress Database Backup – Austin Matzko's Blog)

3. For my WP access: Moving away from using the classic 'admin' as the userid so it makes it a tad harder for hackers (this was a tip from fellow warrior Sean Mitchell (seamim) thanks!

4. Regularly change my FTP passwords

5. Put stuff - videos etc on amazon s3 and also have it on my or my staff's hard drives.

5. Hmmm...what do you use/suggest to make it even better?

I look forward to see what you use/suggest to see if I"m 'missing out on some sort of 'best of breed' backup practice!

Cheers, Maria
#backing #blog
  • Profile picture of the author netgain1
    Whew..

    When Maria told me this I cringed and looked at my own business. This is serious stuff people.

    The first step is to admit you have a problem

    Then, quickly adopt this plan and modify to suit.

    This is indeed scary stuff for us that depend upon the internet to make a living and one we ALL need to take to heart.

    Most of us are depending upon third party companies to keep our data safe but who are they? Can we really trust them? I like trusting myself and there is no substitute for putting our own safeguards in place that we control.

    What an eye-opener and I plan to get proactive! You should too.

    Hope life is returning to normalcy Maria. Whew!

    Christopher
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  • Profile picture of the author anthon
    Nice tips there.

    I also download backup files and database from my cpanel regularly.

    And you told hosting videos in amazon I also have thought about that but fear if the videos are deleted then it would be hard to update the whole site and recover videos!

    What do you think? amazon , youtube .. is trust able for video hosting?
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    • Profile picture of the author John A Goodwin
      Originally Posted by anthon View Post

      What do you think? amazon , youtube .. is trust able for video hosting?
      I think Amazon S3 is very trustable for video hosting.
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    • Profile picture of the author Maria Gudelis
      Originally Posted by anthon View Post

      Nice tips there.

      I also download backup files and database from my cpanel regularly.

      And you told hosting videos in amazon I also have thought about that but fear if the videos are deleted then it would be hard to update the whole site and recover videos!

      What do you think? amazon , youtube .. is trust able for video hosting?
      I use amazon for hosting most videos that will get lots of views (learned that the hard way when my hosting server crashed during a xmas twitter replay webinar! LOL) or that are in a training course of mine usually

      And I use youtube and viddler for other vids that are embedded in my blog or a wso sales page I use youtube if there is a video salesletter in it!

      Hope that helps!

      Cheers, M
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  • Profile picture of the author Abledragon
    I have a very similar approach to the one Maria has set out, the only addition being that I download all my WordPress system files to my PC once a week.

    Should the worst happen I can be up and running again in about an hour - the time it takes to upload the latest copy of my system files and restore my database.

    I wrote an article about what happened to one of my client's sites that was hacked and then re-hacked back in January. It has some more security tips and you can find it here:

    http://www.wealthydragon.com/blog/20...ity-wordpress/

    Cheers,

    Martin.
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  • Profile picture of the author PTaubman
    I have all the source files for my site on my desktop machine this gets backed up at a regular interval (I run a Mac and use Time Machine so I think it is almost hourly). The point is I have regular backups taken.

    For my blog, I use the plug-in, "WordPress Database Backup" and have it emailed to be on a daily basis. I post daily so I do not want to lose anything (if possible). The email remains on the server until I delete it, so I have a downloaded copy in my email program as well as an offsite copy sitting on my hosting company's server.

    Source documents, reports, etc. are also on my desktop which I back up.

    Finally, as final precaution, I have some documents go to Mozy using their free off-site backup service.

    As you can tell, I take back-ups seriously! It is not a matter of IF you loose everything, but a matter of WHEN. Be safe everyone!

    Be Well.
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    • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
      I have heard a lot of horror stories about mozy backup. They are doing good marketing but their support is not so good. Use them but don't trust them too Much.

      Originally Posted by PTaubman View Post

      I have all the source files for my site on my desktop machine this gets backed up at a regular interval (I run a Mac and use Time Machine so I think it is almost hourly). The point is I have regular backups taken.

      For my blog, I use the plug-in, "WordPress Database Backup" and have it emailed to be on a daily basis. I post daily so I do not want to lose anything (if possible). The email remains on the server until I delete it, so I have a downloaded copy in my email program as well as an offsite copy sitting on my hosting company's server.

      Source documents, reports, etc. are also on my desktop which I back up.

      Finally, as final precaution, I have some documents go to Mozy using their free off-site backup service.

      As you can tell, I take back-ups seriously! It is not a matter of IF you loose everything, but a matter of WHEN. Be safe everyone!

      Be Well.
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      Read my Blog: DigitalDeepak.com

      @ Bangalore, India.
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Silvester
    Hi Maria,

    I take my back-ups very seriously. I have been on the
    receiving end of hacked sites and dodgy webhosts (hostgator included)
    and I now dont have to worry.

    I use a program that backs-up all of my site files and also the
    mysql databases that are connected to them. Its done automatically
    and it also has a restore function. So if you do have any trouble, you
    can restore your site in no time at all.

    I use Website Backup Software, FTP Backup Tool, MySQL Backups | SiteVault

    Use them if you want a total hands free solution that you
    dont have to worry about. You can have the back-ups
    saved online via ftp or you can have them saved to your
    computer.

    You need something that will backup and restore and
    that software will do it. I love it!

    Hope that helps?

    Michael Silvester
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    • Profile picture of the author Jill Carpenter
      Believe it or not, my hosting plan does regular backups and can restore the last saved copy of a site.

      They do it monthly I believe.

      This protects me from my own messes more than hackers though.
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    • Profile picture of the author Maria Gudelis
      Originally Posted by Michael Silvester View Post

      Hi Maria,

      I take my back-ups very seriously. I have been on the
      receiving end of hacked sites and dodgy webhosts (hostgator included)
      and I now dont have to worry.

      I use a program that backs-up all of my site files and also the
      mysql databases that are connected to them. Its done automatically
      and it also has a restore function. So if you do have any trouble, you
      can restore your site in no time at all.

      I use Website Backup Software, FTP Backup Tool, MySQL Backups | SiteVault

      Use them if you want a total hands free solution that you
      dont have to worry about. You can have the back-ups
      saved online via ftp or you can have them saved to your
      computer.

      You need something that will backup and restore and
      that software will do it. I love it!

      Hope that helps?

      Michael Silvester
      Hey Michael - thank you for sharing this!!!

      - this looks better than my solution and what I love about this thread is everyone sharing their tools!

      I will check this out and also the 'backupify' one too from Intrapreneur warrior!
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  • Profile picture of the author hendricius
    My hosting comes with cpanel, so it comes with an option of one click backup which allows you to download the entire home directory on your computer
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  • Profile picture of the author Deepak Media
    I have given this a lot of thought before. I use wp db backup plugin and the database is sent to my email everyday because I update my blog daily. For some blogs I use weekly backups.

    I store all media files in amazon using wp amazon s3 plugin. While uploading the media files through word press, one copy is stored in my server and one copy goes to amazon bucket. So there is a redundancy.

    I have created a editor login for my wp blog and use that to login every time. I use a separate laptop for administration logins. That laptop has no softwares installed. I also have included my ip range in hta access file so only I can login into the blog. When someone from a different ip logs in, a page not found error is shown.

    Apart from this, my hosting company als takes backups every week and they are available online for support literally round the clock and calendar.
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    Read my Blog: DigitalDeepak.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Maria Gudelis
      Originally Posted by Deepak Media View Post

      I have given this a lot of thought before. I use wp db backup plugin and the database is sent to my email everyday because I update my blog daily. For some blogs I use weekly backups.

      I store all media files in amazon using wp amazon s3 plugin. While uploading the media files through word press, one copy is stored in my server and one copy goes to amazon bucket. So there is a redundancy.

      I have created a editor login for my wp blog and use that to login every time. I use a separate laptop for administration logins. That laptop has no softwares installed. I also have included my ip range in hta access file so only I can login into the blog. When someone from a different ip logs in, a page not found error is shown.

      Apart from this, my hosting company als takes backups every week and they are available online for support literally round the clock and calendar.
      hey Deepak - wow - that is such a secure solution...the IP address hta access.......haven't even thought of that but makes a lot of sense!

      " I also have included my ip range in hta access file so only I can login into the blog. When someone from a different ip logs in, a page not found error is shown."
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  • Profile picture of the author Dan Sandercock
    Timely reminder to look after your wares... I wouldn't rely on my host to do it to be honest. This kind of importance needs to rest on your own shoulders. Backups are one of the main essential things you should be doing for your online biz. If you ain't doing it you are gonna get burnt one of these days.

    Them "script kiddies" get everywhere...

    EDIT: Great tips by the way Maria. I used to be a system admin for a bunch of companies and even one embassy but since going solo and doing IM I have let my standards slip so a great reminder to keep your eye on the backup-ball.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosetrees
      In addition to the database backup plugin which emails me daily backups, I also pay my web host for a daily, offsite backup of my most important site - this includes backing up its associated webmail.
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  • Profile picture of the author mktbiz
    Another thing to check out is backup buddy, a wordpress plugin that can backup your whole site and download/email/ftp or backup to amazon cloud your site. Includes your wordpress install, themes, plugins etc and the database. Can also schedule to email you your database backups. You definitely want backups off site incase your hosting site develops problems (legal - court ordered shutdown for evidence, nature - floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, human - human error, hackers etc). Having a offsite copy allows you to bring you site up at some other host. There is another post on this site about a court ordered shutdown of a server for evidence and nobody was allowed access to anything, backup's included for months. If you have multiple web sites it is good to use multiple hosts geographically dispersed in case of a big natural disaster you wouldn't be completely shut down. Even if your host stores backups offsite they are probably in the same city and can be affected by the same natural disaster (floods cover a wide area).
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  • Profile picture of the author Caleb Spilchen
    Just ran a database backup. I've come so close to losing everything before. This year I was hacked, and it got bugs all round in my server, and I almost lost everything. But yet, I still don't back up.

    So. I gotta remember to do that!
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